Eternity Daily Bible Study No. 163 - Grace Versus Power Eternity Daily Bible Study - http://www.aibi.ph/eternity/ Free ebook on Spiritual Warfare: http://www.aibi.ph/ebooks/spirwarfare.htm Today a reader sent me the following question "Is there a difference between exorcism and deliverance?" and then described a questionable exorcism session where demons were cast out but little good seemed to be done for the person involved. My reply went along the lines of "True deliverance is a gentle, freeing work of grace while exorcism can simply be an act of brute force in the spiritual realm". Which of course leads to today's topic - the difference between grace and power. (Matthew 7:21-23 NKJV) "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. {22} "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' {23} "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' These people were casting out demons but not doing God's will. In fact they were practicing "lawlessness". Its was raw spiritual power without accompanying grace, joy, gentleness and love. We have all seen this in abusive Christianity and the "excesses of Pentecostal-ism". (Let me quickly add that I am a charismatic Christian and believe in and move in the spiritual gifts.) There is an ugly kind of Christianity that is not Christianity at all but rather is an abusive religion of raw power and authoritarian abuse. This is the stuff of the cults. True Christianity is grace-filled, joyous, loving, free and hopeful. it is also powerful and much more than a club for theologians and philosophers. It truly transforms in both the qualities and quantities of life. Healing is not just a demonstration of spiritual technology but an interaction with God's love that should touch us personally and in qualitative ways bringing hope, love and joy. The blind man of John 9 is such a case. He is not just healed but transformed, meets Jesus, becomes a witness, is rejected by man but found by God. He is far more than a trophy for an evangelist, he is a man undergoing profound personal change as the result of a healing and taking on a new attitude to God and new responsibilities in life. This is grace at work. Back to the question of exorcism versus deliverance. There are exorcists in tribal societies, Muslim and Buddhist societies and even in Judaism and they all have some small modicum of power. The "book of Tobit" in the Apocrypha tells of the exorcism of the demon Asmodeus through burning the entrails of a certain fish. This so repelled the demon that it fled to Egypt! Frankly I don't blame it! The "seven sons of Sceva" were Jewish exorcists of this type that tried exorcism "in the name of Jesus". (Acts 19:13-17 NKJV) Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches." {14} Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so. {15} And the evil spirit answered and said, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?" {16} Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. {17} This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. This is mere spiritist exorcism. Get the right words, and the right spell and the right fish entrails and get enough spiritual power on your side to make the demon flee. Its the shaman with his rattle. And in this case the exorcists lost! Contrast this with the ministry of Paul a few verses earlier: (Acts 19:11-12 NKJV) Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, {12} so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. Paul, in the power of the Holy Spirit and the word of Christ got the evil spirits to leave in a very decisive fashion. This was not magical. In fact it was so unlike magic that the Ephesians got all their magic books and scrolls and paraphernalia and burned them. (Acts 19:18-20 NKJV) And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. {19} Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver. {20} So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed. Paul was not an additional magician, not just another exorcist, but a messenger of grace that went so far beyond magic that people simply gave magic up entirely. It had no more use when contrasted with the name of Jesus! Is power wrong? No, not all. But power without love and grace is lawlessness - for the law is to love our neighbor. Christianity was never meant to be bereft of power and unable to deal with the demonic. It was always supposed to be a spiritual treasure-trove of grace that can loose people from bondages, possession and oppression and set them free into wholeness. Then they can find forgiveness, new life, personal transformation and become Christ-like. Its hard to be Christ-like if your inner world is tormented - say by a demon of rejection. Power frees people to truly experience grace. And grace is given so we can lead holy and righteous lives that are at peace with God. And holiness builds within us a new spiritual authority, which in turn gives us power, so we in turn can set people free, to experience grace, and become like Jesus Christ. Gospel power gives people two things - and experience of the power of God and an experience of the nature of Jesus Christ - and the two should always go together. IF this topic interests you try two of my ebooks, Biblical EQ which is about emotions and inner healing and A Quick Primer On Spiritual Warfare. You can find all my ebooks online (for free) at: http://www.aibi.ph/ebooks/ Blessings in Him, John Edmiston Asian Internet Bible Institute http://www.aibi.ph/ Free Online Bible And Ministry Training Dozens of free Christian ebooks: http://www.aibi.ph/ebooks/ Visit the Eternity home page at: http://www.aibi.ph/eternity/ This devotional may be freely forwarded to others and used for non-profit ministry purposes as long as the following copyright notice is included. © Copyright John Edmiston 2003